Put effects on one layer, a group or a board
Blur, grain, colour and every Void effect can go on a single layer, on several at once (linked), on a group as one image, on a board or on the whole design. How to choose, leave a layer out, limit an effect to an area, and copy effects.
Intermediate5 min readUpdated 28 September 2026
On this page
An effect is always on something, and it changes that thing and nothing else. Put a blur on the portrait and the text beside it stays sharp. Put grain on a group and the group gets grain as one picture. The Effects section in Properties shows the effects of whatever is selected, and + Effect adds one.
Where an effect can go
| Selected | The effect goes on | What changes |
|---|---|---|
| One layer | That layer | The layer alone. Nothing below it |
| Several layers | Each of them, as linked copies | Each layer on its own. Change one copy and they all change |
| A group | The group | What the group's layers make together, as one picture |
| Nothing, on a board | The board | Everything on that board |
| Nothing, no boards | The design | The whole design, last of all |
Each of these has its own list of effects. They run from the top of the list down, each on the result of the one before, so order can matter. When it does, the section says Order matters here: drag the rows to change it.
Add, change and remove
- Select what the effect is for, on the canvas or in Layers.
- Click + Effect in the Effects section of Properties. Type to find one, or pick from Blur and texture, Colour, and More effects… for every Void effect.
- The new effect opens with its settings, Strength (how much of it shows) and Blend (how it mixes with what it changed).
- The eye switches an effect off and on.
- Click its name to open or close its settings.
- The ⋯ menu has Duplicate, Copy, Move up, Move down, Reset, the mask choices and Remove.
- Layer styles (shadow, glow, stroke, overlays) are listed in the same section, and still draw around the finished shape.
One picture, or each layer?
A blur on a group can mean two things. As one image: the group is flattened in your head first and blurred as a whole, so the blur runs across the gaps between its layers. On each layer: every layer is blurred on its own. The first time you add a blur, grain, noise, dots or a distortion to a group, or to several layers in the same group, the Editor asks which you mean and shows a small picture of each. Tick Remember and it stops asking for that effect.
Colour effects do not ask: a colour change looks the same either way, so it goes on the group.
Changed your mind? With the group selected, Put these effects on each layer instead moves them onto each thing in the group, linked.
Linked effects
With several layers selected, + Effect puts a copy on each of them, linked. A small link icon shows on the row, and its settings say On: Portrait, Texture. Change the amount on one and every copy follows.
- Unlink this one lets one copy go its own way.
- Add the selected layers puts linked copies on more layers: select the new layers together with one that has it.
- Remove from all of these (in the ⋯ menu with several selected) takes every copy off.
Duplicating layers gives the copies their own effects: copies made together stay linked to each other, never to the originals.
Leave a layer out of a group effect
Select a layer inside a group that has effects and tick Leave out of “Group” effects in Properties. It draws clean in its place while the rest of the group keeps the effects. A logo in a textured group is the usual case.
Group settings
- Blend as a group: the group's layers are put together first, then blended with what is below as one. A group with effects or a mask always works this way. Without it, each layer blends with what is below on its own (Pass through).
- Mask: hides part of the group after its effects. Add mask, or with a selection, From selection or Hide selection. Then Invert, Turn off or Remove.
Limit an effect to an area
Make a selection, then choose Show only in the selection from the effect's ⋯ menu. The effect now shows only there, and the row says Masked. Hide in the selection does the opposite. Invert mask, Turn mask off and Remove mask are in the same menu. The mask moves with the layer when you move it, and masks on groups, boards and adjustment layers move with their board.
Adjustment and filter layers
Adjustment and filter layers still work as before, changing everything below them. Select one and Changes in Properties sets how far it reaches: Everything below, Only this group, or Just the layer below. With several layers selected, + Effect has As an adjustment layer above them: they are grouped and the adjustment goes inside the group, changing them and nothing else. It is one undo step. See filters as editable layers.
Copy, paste and compare
- Right-click a layer on the canvas: Copy effects, then on another layer Paste effects (adds them) or Paste effects in place of theirs. The same items are under Layer > Effects.
- Effects off while looking (View menu) shows the design without any effects until you turn it back on. Hold \ for a quick look. Neither changes the design or the export.
- Every effect is in the command palette (Ctrl+K) as Add effect: ….
On a phone
Select the layer or group, then open the Effects tab: Effects on this is at the top, with the same + Effect, rows and settings. The Select sheet shows them too, inside the layer's settings.
Good to know
- The canvas and the export agree: effects are worked out at the size of what they are on (up to 1200 px on the long side) both times, and pixel settings are scaled for larger exports.
- Effects that make texture, such as grain and halftone dots, keep a cut-out's shape: a layer with a transparent background gets grain only where it has pixels.
- A design with effects opened in an older Voidcanvas keeps them in the file, but they only show in this version.
- From the Effects page, Add to my design puts a stack of effects on the layer you had selected. See Effects.